An ethical dilemma, and consequences for a war photographer

Anyone who knows me personally knows that one of my favorite hobbies is photography. I love exploring color and light, and really enjoy trying to find unique ways to photograph scenes, buildings, people, and the world around me.

So, when a story came out last week about a photography scandal at the Associated Press, I read it right away!

The scandal, which you can read more about here, essentially broke loose due to a Pulitzer Prize winning photographer admitting that he doctored and edited a photograph for the Associated Press. The photo, taken in war-torn Syria, shows a Syrian opposition fighter taking cover during a battle. However, the original photo had one problem: there was a camera visible in the bottom left hand corner. See below:

The top photo shows the original photograph, and the bottom photo is the result of editing

After some serious thought, the photographer chose to “clone” the area around the camera in order to cover up its “distracting” existence and produce a new photograph. While this move did not change the essence of the photograph, it does go against some hard and fast rules of photojournalism against editing of any kind. The AP states in its guidelines that:

Photographs must always tell the truth. We do not alter or digitally manipulate the content of a photograph in any way. … No element should be digitally added to or subtracted from any photograph.

As such, the once Pulitzer Prize winning photographer was stripped of his job, and the integrity of every photo he has ever shot is now being examined and is in question.

As someone who does occasionally add filters to my photographs and the like, I wonder if this really is “truth altering.” Bringing out more light in a photograph, removing red eye…does this altering change the “truth” of the moment as it was when the photographer shot it? The Associated Press and other news sources would say wholeheartedly YES.

Reputed journals aside, in today’s age of Instagram, will future historians have to question the integrity and truth behind today’s photographs of every day life?

I honestly don’t have any answers to this at the moment, but it’s something that has been on my mind lately.

Does anyone have any thoughts?

Back to the land of the pines

I returned from Denmark in December 2013, and have since resumed my library studies at UNC Chapel Hill this January. Although I do miss Denmark and Europe (and the friends I made there), I am excited to have a “fresh start” so to speak. Now that I know the Chapel Hill area better (and have a good solid group of friends) I felt less apprehensive about coming back to NC.

My classes this semester are also really interesting. I’m taking several required courses about human information interaction, reference and research, and research methods. But I also am lucky to be taking a Special Libraries and Knowledge Management class, which is right up my alley! I have always been interested in special libraries and how their operations and functions may differ from traditional librarianship. Special libraries can include health/hospital libraries, law libraries, federal libraries, corporate libraries….they basically can be any information environment that falls outside of the scope of traditional public or academic libraries. Our professor is a former Special Libraries Association president who has worked in several corporate environments, so I’m excited to see what I can learn from her expertise.

I also am excited to say that I have taken on a field experience/internship in the Health Sciences Library on campus at UNC. Here, I can learn the inner workings of a major hospital library, and what services they offer their patrons. I’ve had a whirlwind of an introduction to it, which I will log here on this blog. It’s been a really interesting orientation so far, and I love being able to see how library services can morphed and utilized in such different ways in the health field. 

Folketinget Bibliotek (The Danish Parliamentary Library)

While I was in Denmark, I received the opportunity to see the Folketinget Bibliotek, which is the library of the Danish Parliament. This library is located in the Christiansborg Palace in the city center. Although it is a small library in size, it has many resources to offer its patrons. These resources are typically only reserved for members of Parliament, but sometimes researchers are allowed to work and comb through the extensive legislation and documentation held on these shelves.

With the help of its talented librarians and information professionals, the library skillfully gathers and shares information that the MPs might find useful. On my tour, I found out that each librarian receives an area of specialty, such as Ministry of Culture or Ministry of Trade. They then individually narrow in on topics and information that members of these cabinets might find useful or interesting. The librarian I spoke with said that he often will receive bills before they are to be discussed on the floor; he will comb through the proposed legislation and provide the members with information, footnotes, and citations that they may find useful to look at when the bill comes up in chambers later in the month. They can typically find all of this information on an internal website. The librarians also will often perform reference and research requests when parliament is in session (if issues or a question comes up, for example).

The Parliamentary Library Reading Room

Every librarian I met on the tour was very helpful and welcoming to me, and they were so kind to take the time out of their busy days to tell me about the operations of this specific federal library. I really enjoyed being able to compare it to the federal libraries in the United States…it reminded me a lot of the role of Congressional Research Services in Washington DC.

On Language Learning

When I first arrived in Denmark in August 2013, the only word I knew was “Hej” (pronounced hi).

It means hi.

While this seemed like a good sign for things to come, that unfortunately was not the case. The rest of the Danish language was very difficult for me to comprehend. I wandered the streets, listening to the language swirl around me, and wondered how anyone could understand the mutterings and fast speeds. The majority of Danes, thank goodness, speak fluent English, and so as I began to study Danish, I was able to resort to my mother tongue as a crutch if I got stuck. This was both good and bad. It was good because I could ask for help if needed…it was bad because I was not FORCED to speak the language all the time. I have taken 6 years of French and am unfortunately not proficient in speaking it at all, so I was a little wary (yet determined) as I started my Danish language course. I wanted to be able to understand people around me!

A funny comic on learning Danish from http://satwcomic.com/language-lesson

As I progressed in my language course (which I took separately from my official library school courses), I found that I could start to pick out certain words and phrases. It felt good to be able to begin to read things around me, and to be able to order things from a restaurant menu and KNOW what I would get, rather than it be a complete surprise like it was in the beginning. Around early November, I wrote on my Danish blog:

Danish breakthrough

So I think I’ve finally had a mini breakthrough in learning Danish. I am (in no way AT ALL) fully understanding things around me, but my reading is getting better, and I don’t tend to have to ask people what things on the menu say anymore. Also, I successfully ordered my food the other day without the person switching into English at all, AND I was able to direct a cab driver to my address (a huge accomplishment since I usually can’t even pronounce the name of my kollegium).

In order to help myself learn the language a little better, I picked up a copy of (what else?) Harry Potter in Danish! I figured since I know the story already, I can go through the book with the audio for it playing in the background, and then I can get a feel for how the words sound compared with how they look (very different in Danish!) and from there I can expand my vocabulary. 🙂

When I left Denmark, I was able to hold brief “elevator conversations” and people were not immediately switching into English anymore. I could also start to pick out what my Danish friends were saying in Danish in Facebook statuses. This was a HUGE confidence booster to me. I think my level of Danish is around the same level of my French at this point….which is saying something considering that I took 6 years of French and only spent 4 months in Denmark!

I really hope that I will be able to continue learning this fun language. Unfortunately it may be difficult since only 5 million people in the world speak it, but I am determined to try!

Culture Shock and Adjustments in Denmark

While I settled in quite quickly during my time abroad in Denmark, there were some times when I had no idea what was going on. I began taking language classes, but it took a long time for me to start picking up phrases and words. Thank goodness everyone spoke English (for the most part). That being said, I still wanted to make an effort to blend in and to try to learn the language and the culture. My first trip to the grocery store was a bit of an experience:

Going to A Danish Grocery Store

…although the Danes call it a supermarket.

Yesterday was my first time venturing into a Danish grocery store. It was a bit overwhelming, since most all of it was in Danish, but I came away with the majority of things I needed (and a few of the wrong things that I translated incorrectly).

Here are some of my photos from the grocery store. Look at the cute carts they have! It makes it so much easier so that you don’t cut off the circulation of your arm while lugging around a hand cart. And you don’t have to worry about getting a larger cart with a weird wheel (although those are available as well if you want them).

The first thing I noticed is that the Danes LOVE their cheese and their seafood. There is fish EVERYWHERE. To put on their sandwiches, to grill or bake alone, etc etc. The supermarket I went into had an entire section devoted to shrimp. One thing’s for sure, I’ll definitely be eating a lot less red meat here. Which is a good thing, I think!

Funny shopping carts

So much cheese!

I found the American section of the grocery store! And I think it’s hilarious that marshmallow fluff made the important cut for imports. 🙂

Overall, my experience was very enlightening and fun, if a little confusing. It seems that Danish grocery stores are quite expensive, have lots of what you need (so much liver paste stuff? I think that’s what it was…I’m not brave enough to try it just yet) but only a few options within each category (which luckily makes picking easy!). For example, the cereal aisle of this store had mostly Coco puffs and wheat fiber cereal as your two options. Guess which one I chose? 🙂

Finally, what is any grocery store without hundreds and hundreds of candles?

I ran into some issues meeting people’s expectations:

A Dane: “You don’t look American.”

Me: “Really? What do Americans look like?”

A Dane: “Kim Kardashian”

And really had a laugh at some traditions I had never heard of before:

I found out recently that birthdays are really special in Denmark, and that the Danes have their own traditions when it comes to celebrating turning a year older.

While the gift giving and cake-eating traditions remain pretty much the same between Danish and American cultures, apparently it is common at children’s birthdays to serve a “kagemand” or “cakeman”. It is a cake shaped like a gingerbread man…and my friend told me that you typically chop the head off first before eating him.

On the adult end of the birthday spectrum, another friend told me that it is common to wake up the birthday boy/girl and take embarrassing pictures of them when they first wake up (while singing at them)? Definitely an interesting one…

Finally, the funniest tradition to me is that in some areas of Denmark, if someone turns 25 and he or she is not married yet (and these days it’s becoming less likely for a person to be married at that age), then his friends will attack him with CINNAMON! And if the person turns 30, he gets attacked with pepper, and his friends will even make him a homemade pepper shaker and leave it outside of his home.

Hilariously, this is not just a sprinkle of spices…this is an all out assault. To add insult to injury, the person attacked with cinnamon can’t wash it off with a warm shower because then his or her skin will turn orange…so they have to wash it off with a cold shower…and then hope that they won’t be attacked again later in the day. All I can say is I’m glad that my 25th birthday isn’t happening until next August.

Despite all of these challenges, I managed to grow and learn more and more about the culture of Denmark, made AMAZING friends, and enjoyed my time there immensely.

A Semester Abroad in Copenhagen, Denmark

Instead of returning to UNC for my second semester in Library School, I decided to take advantage of a formal exchange/study abroad agreement my school has with the Royal School of Library and Information Science in Copenhagen, Denmark! I wanted to see how other libraries in Europe work. As Scandinavian libraries are famous around the world, this was the obvious choice for me. 🙂

So, at the end of August 2013, off I flew to Denmark! It was my first time in a country where I did not speak the language and where I barely knew a soul. I will be quoting and re-posting some of my experiences from my blog that I posted to when I was in Denmark. This was one of my first posts after I finished my first week in the country:

Random Fun Facts I’ve Discovered About Denmark:

Since Tuesday, I’ve started to explore and adjust to my new city. I’ve discovered a few fun things along the way.

1. In Denmark, putting salad dressing on your pizza is normal.

2. As much as some people here, you would THINK that there would be a problem with trash and cans everywhere along the streets. However, Copenhagen is one of the cleanest cities I’ve ever been in. One thing I discovered that helps keep the city clean is the government’s efforts to recycle. If you return a can or recyclable to the grocery store in Denmark, you get money back for it (so if a can of beer cost 3 kroner, you would get 1 kroner back). This is a great incentive for people to recycle!

3. It’s incredibly windy here! I really didn’t expect that. Sometimes entire businesses here run on the energy of the wind, though! This new hotel in Copenhagen is an example…it definitely gets at least some of its energy from that windmill!

4. The Danes love to have jam on their ice cream. And it seems like they love ice cream in general…there are so many ice cream stores everywhere right now…perhaps because it’s summer. I’m not complaining! It’s delicious, especially when you eat it when walking along Nyhavn Harbour in the inner city.

The Orientation to my new school was very different as well, and I had to adapt accordingly:

Orientation at RSLIS

Last Thursday and Friday I had Orientation at the Royal School of Library and Information Science! I met up with the other international students in my program (which is thankfully in English) and we had two full days of information thrown at us! We learned about the history of the school, how it is now a part of the University of Copenhagen (as of April!) and how the school focuses on the intersection between information and culture, which is a concept that I have not seen a lot of during my time in library school. I’m looking forward to seeing how it goes! Here are some pictures of my school!

As part of the Orientation, we got to know our fellow students, our professors, and “of course” (my Danish mentor advised us) our local bartender. Everyone seemed quite happy to have us there, and we even had a little welcome party to mix the new international students with the new Danish students.

This is a Danish game we played at our Orientation. Unlike most American “break the ice” orientation games, this one involved drinking. You have to throw a shoe, knock over the bottle in the middle, and while the other side runs to stand it upright again, your team drinks. The first team to finish their beers wins. And so on and so forth. Our international team wasn’t very good at this, despite having some Germans on our team. 😉

The school had some formal events for us to attend as well, so we all went to the Immatriculation Ceremony down at the University of Copenhagen, where the president of the university and all of the deans welcomed us to the school. It was very fancy, with a choir singing in Danish and everything. You can see the president giving his speech below:

All in all it was a fantastic Orientation, and it really has helped prepare me for my semester. There was a lot of information, but hopefully I can continue to process it as I go.

Summer 2013 and the State Department

After returning from Europe in June 2013, I headed to Washington DC to intern for the US State Department in the Office of American Spaces in the International Information Programs Bureau. While I can’t disclose much about my internship here, I can provide you with some quotes and links about the office in which I worked.

The Office of American Spaces works with libraries and embassies around the world. It aims to bring information about the English language, American policy, and American culture to those who might not otherwise hear about it and to those who might want to learn more about it. The office states:

American Spaces provide welcoming environments where visitors can connect and learn about the United States. Hosted in embassies, schools, libraries, and other partner institutions worldwide, American Spaces are platforms for providing information about the United States, our policy, culture, and values; English language learning; alumni activities, and information about study in the U.S.

A multifunctional platform for public diplomacy programs, American Spaces promote open dialogue, counteract negative preconceptions, and build bridges of understanding. Often located outside of capital cities, they serve as venues where embassy officers and employees have the opportunity to meet with local residents who have limited exposure to American culture and ideals. (http://www.state.gov/r/iip/amerspaces/index.htm)

I really enjoyed my time in Washington, and am lucky to be continuing my time with the bureau in a virtual capacity now. I met people from around the world, expanded my knowledge of librarianship and information sharing/access. Furthermore, I lived in a house with international students, and as such was able to challenge myself and grow as I  found myself constantly exposed to new ideas and perspectives.

Amsterdam

After leaving London, I was able to hop on a plane and visit Amsterdam and old friends. I didn’t know what to expect, but the city soon become one of my favorites in Europe. The atmosphere, the culture…everything about it is fun. It was really nice to see my old friends as well, and to have some local Dutchies show me around. Biking for the first time in 10 years was an experience, especially in the crazy rush hour sections of the city. Thankfully I soon got my bike legs back, even though the bike was a little too tall for me. 🙂

My first view of the city after leaving Amsterdam Centraal Station

Biking in Amsterdam

Eating herring the Dutch way

Dutch cheese—my favorite!

We also had a chance to go to the Rijesksmuseum, where we saw Van Gogh and other famous Dutch artists. One of my favorite parts of the Rijeskmuseum was the library, of course! It is an academic library focusing on art history.

I loved my time in the Netherlands, and I hope to be able to go back someday!

Kew Gardens

Kew Gardens

Flash Opera in London

This is a sort of “flash mob” opera that I saw in a shop in London, May 2013